


Something About You

by the_butler



Series: Prompts [6]
Category: DCU, Green Lantern - All Media Types, The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Writing Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-03-07 12:54:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18873604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_butler/pseuds/the_butler
Summary: Prompt: “Where have you been all my life?” “Hiding from you.”Still on that High school AU. This time Hal’s a sociable jock and Barry is his disinterested chemistry lab partner.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Tiếng Việt available: [Something About You (dịch)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19762384) by [AlexSummers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexSummers/pseuds/AlexSummers)



> Made a sketch of this as well at my tumblr: [halbarry doodle](https://the-butler-fanstuff.tumblr.com/post/184971955706/something-about-you-writing-prompt-where-have)

Hal loves high school. Well, not the academic part, but the everything else- the extra-curricular, the social aspect, the respect and adulation for being a basketball ace. When he jumps for that three points- it’s like he’s flying. When he looks over the crowds and winks indiscriminately at the various cheerleaders and female fans, he soars. At the after parties, where he charms the crowd and drinks until he forgets that he had to come home to people who can see through his shit, he glides, coasts and skates on admiration and adulation and, if he’s lucky, make-outs and blowjobs. When he gets home, he crashes and burns, but right now that’s not important. What’s important is his brand new chemistry lab partner, a Barry Allen, and his incredible ability to actually answer the questions on their joint worksheet.

“Woah. Are you for real, my guy? You know all this shit?”

Barry, eyes trained onto the worksheet and steadily answering it with nary a pause, just nods his head in answer. Hal raises an eyebrow, puts an elbow on the table and props his head on the fist. He has a grin on his face, watching his lab partner work away through the second page with a look bordering on bored. So people like this actually exist- people who actually come to high school to study. He only ever hung around people who treated school as a gateway to more important social events, and treated academics as the least of their concern. After all, you’re only young once, right? But people like Barry probably thought about their futures and worried about GPAs and SATs and all the important abbreviations, saw high school as just a stepping stone towards a better future in some college where they meet with other like-minded individuals and go on to change the world. Meanwhile, the Hals of the world reach their peak in high school- burn bright at the peak of their teens and then burnout and become whatever it is that people who peak in high school become. His parents, probably. Marry young, pop out kids, stay in the same dead end job in your hometown forever and reminisce about your glory years as the school jock rather than spend time with your own kids. Hal physically shakes his head to dislodge the thoughts souring his mood. He refocuses his attention on his lab partner to change his flow of thought.

Barry probably didn’t know it, but looking serious while biting his lower lip with his collar all askew made him look real cute. The thought made Hal smile again. He reaches out and tugs at the crooked collar, and Barry barely flicks his eyes towards Hal. 

“Just fixin’ it, that’s all.”

The boy just hummed an assent, and for some reason that made Hal feel warm inside. He continues to watch his lab partner flip through the two page worksheet, ballpen making tiny checkmarks beside each numbered question, checking for mistakes. Satisfied, Barry finally looks up and puts down the pen, turns to Hal and hands him the papers, as if Hal would actually check his work. This makes Hal smirk, take the worksheets and pretend to look over the answers. 

“Wow, you sure do know your stuff huh?”

Barry just shrugs, then turns back to his pens- the guy actually has a pencil case filled with different colored pens and markers, Hal notes- and starts to tidy up his side of their table.

“Sweet.” Hal continues their one way conversation. “Lemme just hand this over to the teach.”

They, or that is, Barry, had finished answering so fast that the rest of the class were still working through page one, and the teacher checked their, sorry Barry’s, work right in front of Hal. He almost goggled with each red check mark, Barry had answered all questions perfectly. The teacher hands the worksheet back, looking impressed, and said, “well, I guess the two of you can leave class early.”

Walking back to their table, Hal makes a punching motion up the air and mouths, “perfect!” at Barry, who only looked back with mild disinterest. Hal hands him the worksheet and sits down to gather his stuff. “Teach says we can leave early. Barry, my guy, where have you been all my life?” Hal says jovially, and he was stuffing his bag distractedly that he almost missed the quiet answer of,

“Hiding from you.”

It made Hal pause, but by the time he turned to his right Barry was already up and walking out of the lab. Hal’s loud “hey!” earned him disapproving looks from both his teacher and classmates, and he sheepishly ducks his head and says sorry over and over as he walks out the room, determined to catch up to Barry.

When he gets out he turns right and left and could not see hide nor hair of his lab partner. 

“What?” He could only ask himself. The guy was fast. Hal couldn’t ask him what he meant by that quiet statement. Had he offended Barry? Sure he was a bit of a slouch when it came to chemistry, but he tried to pull his weight when asked to. It’s just that Barry barely asked him to, aside from asking for him to hand over some stuff. Hal wracked his brain if he had accidentally bullied the guy. Hal was no bully, but they say some things you think ain’t anything may be something to someone else. He scratched at the back of his head and suppressed the urge to sigh. He looked around again to check if Barry happened to pop up in the minute he took to standing alone in the hallway, and still saw no one. Well, maybe he can ask the next time they had class together.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a complete coincidence that Barry Allen was exiting the library at the exact same moment that Hal was walking by. 
> 
> “Oh hey! Lab partner!” Hal exclaimed, and moved fast to grab Barry by the shoulder before the other could get away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For ArkhamLady and FrazzledDragon, who both said kind words and asked for more of this fic.

The following week Hal made the effort of actually looking for his lab partner and was surprised to find that Barry was in two more of his classes. Which meant he had been seeing Barry every day and never noticed. He’d be tucked away in a corner at the back, studiously reading or writing something, always avoiding Hal’s gaze. He must’ve been avoiding, Hal thought. Even his friends had started noticing him looking at the guy from time to time, Barry should’ve noticed as well. But Barry never raised his eyes to meet Hal’s, and always every after class by the time Hal disentangles himself from his gaggle of friends to get to Barry the other was already gone. It was starting to get frustrating for Hal, who usually was more laidback and carefree. It was a persona he cultivated with great attention. That was probably ironic, but who actually cares? Just Hal, in himself. But now he found himself worrying about someone else.

‘Hiding from you.’ Barry had said. He said it low and with a neutral tone that Hal had almost missed it. But Hal didn’t, and now here he was. At the end of the school day the thought had bothered him so much that he waved off hanging out with his friends after the basketball practice. They were surprised, but after much ribbing just let him go. They were those kind of friends, the kind that aren’t really invested in you when you stopped being a good time. Hal knew this, but he didn’t really care. What were the chances that these people would still be around for him after the hangouts and high school anyway? So far, none had. So Hal didn’t have much expectations in that department. Besides, wasn’t he just the same to them?

During practice, he willed himself to focusing on just shooting three pointers, and for an hour and a half his head was blessedly free of nothing but basketball. He was good at that- willing himself to do something. When he had a mind to, that is. Physical exertion was nothing to him, he had long ago drilled his body into what his coach would call a natural born athlete. But Hal knew he wasn’t. It was just that basketball offered an escape from the mess of his mind. When he focused on just doing well in the sport, everything seemed to melt away. After practice, ditching his friends meant he had to go home, and that was a place he wanted to be in the least amount of time possible. And so, without anything in mind, he walked about the school and on a whim sauntered by the library. 

It was a complete coincidence that Barry Allen was exiting the library at the exact same moment that Hal was walking by. 

“Oh hey! Lab partner!” Hal exclaimed, and moved fast to grab Barry by the shoulder before the other could get away. When Barry looked up to see Hal, panic crossed his face, and Hal was thankful he had moved first. Hal barreled on, determined to not be brushed off this time. “It’s Barry, right? Hey I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Uh...” Barry’s eyes wouldn’t meet him and instead looked to either side of him, clearly looking for an escape. Hal squeezed his shoulder and it seemed to jolt him into looking straight to Hal. Hal gave a cheerful smile.

“But standing in front of the door’s probably not the right place to talk about it. You wanna grab a drink or something? Just finished basketball practice, and I am starving.”

“I don’t...”

“Aw, come on, partner,” Hal said with emphasis on the last word, “we might as well get along seeing as we’ll be together for the rest of the year.”

Barry still looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and so Hal dialed it up and put an arm around his shoulder and started walking. “Come on, I know a place.” He half-dragged Barry away from the library. 

The place Hal knew turned out to be a family restaurant near the edge of town. They had taken Hal’s car, “it’s a piece of shit, but it’s my piece of shit, you know?” Hal had kind of explained with a shrug, as if that explained the state of mess even the interior of his car had. But it got him to places he needed to be, and sometimes it got him to just driving on and on the old highway, imagining a life where he could just up and drive away from his home, the town, his current life. Just take to the road and never look back. But, ah, to the matter at hand, which was this shy boy violently blushing before Hal, in a booth at a near-deserted family restaurant near the edge of town. 

“Don’t worry, this is a place I go to when I want to be by myself.” Hal said cautiously, trying to gauge Barry’s reaction, which was for his eyes to dart around looking for an exit door. Hal put down the french fry that he was about to eat, and wiped his fingers on a napkin. “Hey, earth to Barry.”

That made Barry flinch a little and settle his eyes on Hal again. It made Hal frown, this skittishness. He pushed aside his half-eaten burger and fries and gestured at the untouched meal in front of Barry. “You’re not hungry? I mean it when I said it’s my treat.”

Barry quickly lowered his gaze to his own set of burger and fries and bit his lip. Hal suppressed a sigh. “Hey, come on, it’s not like I poisoned it or anything.”

“I didn’t think that!” Came a hurried answer. It gave Hal pause. “Just a joke.” Hal replied in a neutral tone. Barry blushed again and looked like he was about to cry. This in turn made Hal worry.

“Hey, hey, relax! I wasn’t offended or anything! Come on, dude, just, I dunno, unbend a little?”

As if on cue Barry covered his face with his hands and said in a muffled voice, “I’m sorry!”

“What?” Was all Hal could say, baffled by the chain of events. 

“I said I’m sorry!” Barry repeated, lowering his hands and wiping at his eyes with the back of one. 

“Oh, hey, come on.” Oh no, emotions that he hardly ever dealt with, Hal thought. Shit. He tried some more calming noises. “Dude, it’s okay? I, I guess sorry?”

Barry put down his hand and raised his eyes again, now red-rimmed. “I’m sorry I said what I said during chemistry class. Now please stop bullying me.”

A pause, and then an incredulous “What?” from Hal. 

Barry’s face crumpled a bit, but he took a big breath and smoothed out his expression. “I won’t be bullied.”

Hal, his mouth half open, shook himself from his surprise. Wide-eyed, he gestured at Barry’s untouched meal, and expanded his hands wide as if to encompass the whole of the restaurant. “What... okay. Let me... You know what? Hmm. Actually...” Hal started and stopped several times, composing himself. He landed with, “What part of this is bullying, do you think?”

The blond boy across from Hal looked just as confused as him. “What do you mean...?”

“What do you mean what do I mean?” Hal rejoined, his voice getting a little louder. The panicked look came back on Barry’s face and Hal forced himself to calm down. “Look, all I wanted to do was ask you why you said you’ve been hiding me, that’s all. This,” Hal tapped a finger on the table, “this is a truce. For whatever it is that I may have done to you that made you feel like you had to hide from me.”

The panic in Barry’s face became more pronounced, and then he looked away and closed his eyes, clearly composing himself. “I... I can’t.”

“Can’t what?”

Barry looked as if he was about to cry again, but steeled himself. “I just can’t okay?”

Now, Hal let out the sigh he held back from earlier. Like, what the hell was this shit. He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. He started speaking again, not bothering to look back to Barry. “Look, Barry, I get it. I kinda forced you to come here with me. But only because you’d have kept ignoring me if I didn’t. I’m not bullying you, just to be clear. I have no intention to. All I want is for the rest of my high school days to be peaceful and I guess just the thought of someone actively avoiding me for a reason I don’t know just... bothered me? Like, it’s at the back of my mind, itching. Okay? So, how about a compromise?”

“What do you mean?”

Hal sat up again, and plastered on a smile as he looked back to Barry, who was now more curious than afraid.

“How about we try to be friends?”

He stretched out a hand halfway across the table, waiting for Barry to take it. Barry stared at it for a while, before extending his own and tentatively grasp at Hal’s, who immediately closed his hand and gave a firm shake.

“There. No backsies. Whatever it was before this handshake is no longer important and from now on we do our best to get along. Now eat your burger, it’s actually pretty good. And they make decent fries.”

Barry looked down at his meal with a bit of a doubting look, and Hal reached back to his own plate and started eating the half that was left, making encouraging noises at Barry. This made the other boy pull a face and declare, “I’m not a child.” Hal laughed at that, and sipped at his chocolate milkshake. Barry thoughtfully chewed at a bite of his burger, and Hal watched him gulp it down with anticipation.

“It’s good.” Barry conceded, and Hal couldn’t help but triumphantly grin at him. After a couple more bites, Barry finally gave Hal a small smile. Well, Hal thought, that’s a start.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hal found out Barry’s reason for avoiding him only by the time they’re about to graduate high school. And his response was less than cool. Actually, his response was bad. Scratch that, his response was a disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grateful for the positive response to my continuing this story.

It was a good idea to ask Barry to be friends, Hal thought, belatedly, as he walked out of the school gymnasium to find said boy waiting for him on the steps, nose buried in a book. Some scientific journal, more likely, Hal thought again, knowing by now how Barry lived and breathed Science. It had been more than a year since that fateful meal at the family restaurant he went to by himself, but ever since they became friends Hal never found himself alone in that restaurant again. Barry was a loyal friend, even if he did have a hard time getting along with the rest of Hal’s more carefree friends. Hal did his best to accommodate Barry at the start, using his considerable charm to get the blond to the many parties his various friends would throw. He even tried setting Barry up with some girls, but always the boy demurred, opting to go home and study. When Hal found out that Barry was trying to get a scholarship for Forensic Science at Central City, he backed off getting Barry to hang out so late with him, or anything that can distract from Barry’s goal. Barry, in gratitude, tried his best to tutor Hal in academics, to mixed results. Sciences and Math weren’t all that bad, but for the rest of it Hal didn’t care for much and Barry was not the best at either. They were an odd pair, more than once Hal’s other friends said so, but neither boy cared. There was an easy friendship between them, after some calibration, and now they got their routine down to a science. Every other weekday they’d meet up after Hal’s basketball practice during which Barry would be finishing up assignments and studying at the library. After that, they’d either get some food at their spot or go over to Barry’s place where they were mostly by themselves to play some video games and just shoot the shit. 

Hal found out Barry’s reason for avoiding him only by the time they’re about to graduate high school. And his response was less than cool. Actually, his response was bad. Scratch that, his response was a disaster. 

It was Hal who asked, to be clear, entirely unprompted and very much sloshed on the fourth can of beer he had been drinking to Barry’s mild disapproval. They were at Barry’s home while his adopted parents (grandparents more like, what with the advanced age of Jay and Joan Garrick who graciously took in a then twelve year old Barry at the untimely death of his single mother) were away on a vacation down in Florida. Hal was half-heartedly watching Barry speedrun some old videogame and the beer was rapidly approaching room temperature and he had scrolled through all of his social media feeds and was beginning to feel bored when he asked the question.

“Hey, Bar, remember when you first talked to me?”

“Hm?” Barry answered, distracted from his game but keeping his eyes glued to it nonetheless. “You mean when you kidnapped me to get some burgers at Sal’s Family Diner?”

“Ha-ha, that joke, never gets old.” Hal rejoined flatly. “No, I mean the reason why I kidnapped you. You know, during chemistry class.”

No answer from Barry, who was trying to clear a particularly hard level of some sort. It involved some kind of mini-boss, probably? Hal hadn’t really been paying that much attention to the game his best friend was playing. 

“Hey, I know you remember.” Hal said before finishing off his beer and making a face. “Did I put the rest of my beer in the fridge?”

“No.”

“To which?”

“No to you putting your beer in the fridge. It’s over there at the kitchen counter.” Barry replied, still not looking away from the television screen from his spot on the floor. Hal stared at the back of his best friend’s head at his spot on the couch, willing it to look away from the screen. No such luck. “And the other question?”

Another silence. The sun had gone down and the only light in the house was the glare of the screen with its pixelated graphics. Now and then some 8-bit sound effect would chirp as Barry continued to play his game. Hal was about to open his mouth to say something again when Barry decided to answer.

“I thought you said anything before the handshake at Sal’s was forgotten.”

“A-ha, so you do remember!” Hal exclaimed in triumph. Still not looking his way, Barry paused his game and looked up to the clock on the wall above the screen. “Hey, it’s getting late.”

“Oh no you’re not getting away mister. You said, and I quote, ‘hiding from you’, and then when I asked about it at Sal’s you just said you couldn’t tell me why. And I know, I know I said all is forgotten blah blah blah but, man, it’s still been in my noggin’ all this time, y’know? Just... like at the corner of your eye kind of stuff.”

“Peripheral.”

“Yeah that.” Hal put down the empty can of beer along with the other empty cans on the coffee table. He had a great buzz going and nothing was gonna kill it. “C’mon, buddy, it’s like the end of the school year and you’re going away to that fancy ass college in Central City, you might as well tell me, your best friend, might I remind you. You’re gonna be leaving me here, all alone, with this mystery eating away at me for like, forever.” 

Barry put down the controller beside him and stared at a spot on the carpet in front of him. Still without turning around to face to Hal he whispered, “I like you.”

“Huh?” Hal pleasantly replied, grinning. “Yeah, I like you too buddy that’s why we’re best friends. And so, like I’ve told you all the stupid shit in my life right? And you still haven’t told me why you said...”

“I said I like you.” Barry repeated, head still down. “The reason why I was hiding from you then was because I liked you. I...” a deep breath. “I still like you.”

“Hmm?” Was all Hal could say, because if Barry meant what he said the way Hal understood it, then... Hal’s eyes went to the clock on the wall. “Wow. Wow, is that the time? Past eight already? Jesus my ma’s gonna have my head or something.” This was a bald faced lie, both boys knew. Hal had a habit of going home past 2 am and his parents never took issue with it aside from occasionally using it as a reason to tell him he’s going nowhere in his life fast. “I think I should go. But I’ve had four beers and I don’t want to get a ticket so is it cool if I just leave my car here? I’ll... walk home or something.”

“Yeah, sure.” came the quiet reply. 

“Cool. Cool cool cool. So, um, I’m...” Hal stood up fast, wobbling a bit more at the speed rather than the fast dissolving buzz from the alcohol. He gestured a thumb towards the front door, stupidly, since not once did Barry made to move to look his way. “I’m just gonna go now, yeah?”

“Cool.” Barry replied in a dead voice, then moved to pick up the controller again. 

“‘Kay. Then. Yeah. Don’t be a stranger.” Hal called out from the doorway, and was himself confused for saying what he said. Must be the buzz, he told himself, even when he was close to approaching sobriety. As he closed the door behind him he heard the game start up again, and for a brief moment he was tempted to go back in and... what? And then what did he want to do? He shook his head, took a deep breath, and then started walking back to his house.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Days after graduating, he had all the time in the world to himself, his other friends scattered to the wind and the one friend that mattered back to hiding from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the readers, I hope Hal kind of redeems himself in this chapter. It was getting long so I broke it up into two, that’s why it ends kind of abrupt.

Graduation came and went and Hal and Barry still hadn’t addressed the elephant in the room because neither boy was in the same room with the other for long enough to do so. Barry was back to evading Hal at every opportunity, and Hal didn’t have the guts to stop him from doing so. He was honest enough to admit to himself that he was chicken shit when it came to that- confronting the truth and the feelings he had forced out of Barry, only to run out the second it got serious. There wasn’t a day that went by since then that he didn’t wish he could take back his stupid words. It was easy enough to make excuses for why they weren’t hanging out as much (or at all) anymore though- if anyone asked Hal would always say Barry was too busy with preparing for college to hang out anymore. And partially, maybe, it was true. Who knows anymore, not Hal of course. 

As for himself, he didn’t really have anything lined up for after high school. He was a good enough athlete for high school basketball but not enough for collegiate level, and anyway that wasn’t something he was interested in anymore. It was only ever something he used as a social currency in the realm of high school politics anyway. One time, late during a hang out with Barry riding shotgun and Hal driving them to wherever the old unused road took them, he had let slip about a dream he had back when he was a kid, which was to become a pilot. 

“You should totally go for it.”

Barry had told him, starry eyed, and Hal just made embarrassed noises in reply, and turned the car around back to towards the town. Anyway, it was too late now, wasn’t it? He had frivolously frittered away his high school academics in favor of extra curricular and outside curricular stuff that a college degree wasn’t in the cards for him. But, for that brief moment, with Barry looking at him like he could do achieve anything, Hal’s mind thought, well maybe I could be a pilot. And for a few weeks he entertained the idea, until reality settled in again. Anyway, his parents didn’t think he was college material either, having set aside nothing for that for Hal. So, days after graduating, he had all the time in the world to himself, his other friends scattered to the wind and the one friend that mattered back to hiding from him. 

It was a day before Barry was to leave for Central City when Hal found himself driving by the Garrick’s house. Actually, he had been driving by the Garrick’s house for a week now but never found the courage to actually pull up to it. After the second time he drove around the block, he steeled himself and resolutely pulled up to the Garrick’s driveway. He knocked on the door and schooled his face into something neutral, hoping it wouldn’t give away the turmoil he felt inside. It only took one knock before Mr. Garrick opened the door, a smile on his face.

“Finally come around, eh?”

“Sir?”

“Never mind. You’re just in time, Joan’s baked a pie.”

“Actually, Mr. Garrick I was hoping to get Barry out for a drive?”

Jay Garrick crossed his arms and cocked his head to one side, regarding Hal with a cool stare. Hal almost started fidgeting when Jay made up his mind and told him “one second.” Hal went back to his car and leaned back on it, hands inside his pockets, hoping he didn’t look as nervous as he felt. It seemed like eternity before the front door opened again, and out came Barry, giving him a suspicious look. Hal almost jumped to his feet, the nervous energy inside him ready to come out. 

“Hey, you!” Hal greeted, false cheerfulness ringing hollow. It made Barry’s eyes narrow even more. 

“Why are you here?”

“Aw, come on. Was thinking of going for a drive, and thought hey, been a while since I’ve had you riding shotgun listening to your science podcasts and stuffing your face with some takeout.”

“Really.”

“Really really. So, how about it?” Hal could feel the flop sweat beading his brow as he smiled broadly. He made a show of opening the passenger door and flourishing an arm. “Care to join me, good sir?”

“You’re fucking weird.”

“Ha-ha”, Hal laughed nervously, “never been more normal in my life. Please just get in the car.”

They drove in silence, breaking it only long enough to order some food at the burrito place drive thru. Hal had offered to listen to some of Barry’s beloved nerd podcasts but was declined, and Hal was too tense that he forgot to turn the radio on until it was too late, and they’ve arrived to where he wanted to take them. 

“Makeout Point? Really?” Barry scoffed at him, and Hal felt defensive. 

“It’s got a really good view! Anyway, it’s better than on the side of the road.”

“For what?” Barry asked, pointedly looking out ahead of him. 

“For talking. Come on, Bar. It’s been weeks since we last talked to each other.”

“I dunno Hal. I mean it’s pretty late, won’t your ‘ma’ be worried about you?” Barry replied, tone mocking. Hal physically winced. “Ouch. Okay I deserved that.” 

Barry finally turned to look at him with a withering stare, and then moved closer. Hal instinctively moved back, and Barry rolled his eyes. “Relax, I’m just getting the food.” and he reached behind Hal’s seat to where the bag of burritos was. Hal bit the inside of his lip, he was fucking things up. 

“So, you all packed or what?” Hal said, an opening salvo as Barry cooly handed him a wrapped burrito. Barry shrugged as he unwrapped a burrito of his own and started eating. Hal made a face. Of course it wasn’t going to be easy. 

“Central City, huh. How’s Jay and Joan handling it?”

Another shrug from a disinterested Barry munching on a mouthful of steak burrito.

“Cool. Cool cool cool. So, uh... guess you’re excited for it and everything.”

Barry swallowed, took a sip of his soda, and then sighed. “What are we doing, Hal.”

Oh boy, here we go. “Some small talk? I dunno. This is... fuck I dunno. I’ve never had to do this before.” Hal took the plastic bag from Barry’s lap and put back his burrito into it. He took out some napkins and handed it to Barry, who took it and wiped at his mouth. 

“Do what, exactly?”

It was Hal’s turn to shrug. “Make up? Say goodbye? I dunno. You haven’t exactly made it easy for me to...”

“I haven’t made it easy? Wow, Hal. I wasn’t the one who kept pushing and then ran out the moment...”

“I didn’t run out! It’s just... well how was I supposed to act then? Do you know? Because I would gladly...”

“Weeks, Hal, weeks! You had weeks to come up to me and just talk!”

“Would you have talked to me if I did!”

“Yes!”

“Bullshit! How could I have come up to you when you were literally running and hiding from me?”

“I was...”

“You were! Like I had the plague or something!”

“Well how was I supposed to act, Hal, after that? Huh? Do you know? Because I would gladly...”

“Wait!” Hal put up his hands in emphasis, and Barry stopped mid-tirade. “Hey I already did that, you know, the whole ‘how was I supposed to act’ bit. You gotta come up with something else.”

“Oh my god!” Barry exclaimed, his face a mix of shock, anger and incredulity. “Are you really...? Hal, you asshole.” And then he started laughing. And it was like a valve being opened, as Hal felt the laughter come up and bubble out of him as well, and soon enough they were two idiots in a shitty car smelling like burritos just laughing their asses off. 

“Why are we laughing?” Barry eventually asked in between giggling, wiping at his eye with the napkins.

“I don’t know either!” Hal answered, his laughter starting up again at seeing Barry reduced to tears. Barry wrapped the bitten burrito at hand and chucked it into the bag on Hal’s lap, and then punched Hal’s bicep with his free hand.

“Ow!” Hal exclaimed, still laughing. “What the fuck?”

“I hate you so much.” Barry said, now smiling. It stopped Hal from laughing, and he quickly reached out a hand to Barry’s, who was taken by surprise.

“Hey,” Hal said softly, “don’t say that. Please. I don’t want you to hate me.”

“I was...” Barry colored, the smile fading from his face. “I was just kidding.”

“Yeah, but I mean it. Don’t hate me. I don’t think I can take it. You’re like, the only good thing in my life.”

Judging by the reaction on Barry’s face, he seemed taken aback from what Hal just said. Even Hal was taken aback by what he just said. He’d never said it out loud before. Probably because it scared him so, to admit to something so frightening. His hold on Barry’s hand tightened. 

“Hal... I don’t know what to say.”

“Maybe you should go ‘wow, look at the time’ and then walk all the way home? That way we’d be even.” Hal joked, and it broke the tension by bringing a smile on their faces again. Barry squeezed Hal’s hand. 

“Hey. I know you joke about these things but, Hal, you always put yourself down. I know you’ve kind of hinted before that things aren’t great at home, but it can’t be that I’m the only good thing you got going in your life. Hal, you’re a great guy. I think sometimes you can’t see that.”

Hal had to look away and tried to pull his hand free but Barry held fast.

“Hey.”

“I’m sorry.” Hal apologized, not knowing why. 

“We spent so much time together talking about nothing. I wished you opened up more. I’ll always listen.”

“I don’t want this to be the thing we talk about before you went away. Anyway, its just stupid shit about my stupid life, you don’t need to hear it.” Hal could feel the tears starting to well up, and he bit his lip and punched the steering wheel in an effort to will them down back. He wasn’t going to cry, not because of stupid emotions. He felt Barry squeeze his hand again and he had to shut his eyes tight lest a tear manage to escape. “Jesus, look at me Bar. Actually no, don’t look at me. Look, can we just pretend I’m tearing up because you’re going away?”

“Would it help?”

“Fuck, I dunno, maybe?”

“Okay.”

“You know,” Hal said after he sniffed and blinked back some tears, “these burritos are gonna end up mushy if we don’t eat them already.” He looked over to Barry, who was smiling at him. Something stirred in Hal’s chest, the way it did whenever he caught these moments when Barry looked like an absolute angel. 

“Okay, burrito break. But not inside your car, it’s a little smelly.”

“On the hood it is.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Shit, me no talk pretty.” Hal scrubbed his face with one hand. “I meant do you want for us to be? For there to be an us? For us to be when there want?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second half. Made an art to go along with this chapter, here over at [my tumblr.](https://the-butler-fanstuff.tumblr.com/post/185909752301/another-quick-art-for-my-halbarry-fic-something)

They sat on the hood of Hal’s car, leaning back on the windshield. Hal had finished his burrito long ago and Barry just finished his second one. He was looking up at the sky, not thinking about anything in particular until a thought occurred to him. “Hey, Bar, remember when I told you when I was a kid I wanted to be a pilot and you said go for it?”

“Yeah?”

“You were the only one to ever say that. Go for it. That means a lot to me.”

Barry didn’t say anything back, and they sat in companionable silence this time as they contemplated the stars. Hal wondered if it were the same stars in Central City, and then mentally smacked himself in the forehead because of course it was. He was getting sentimental, he knew, but maybe this is one of those times that it’s okay to be. Feelings can’t always be repressed or chased away by alcohol or forgotten in a sexual haze. Well, he might as well go for it. 

“I’m gonna miss you so much.”

Barry smiled. “I’m gonna miss you too.”

“What we almost talked about in the car, you know... about me... well, I want to be better. For the both of us.”

“Both of us?” Barry turned his head to give Hal a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”

“Well I just... I mean...” Hal took a deep breath and steeled himself. “Do you want an us?”

“What?”

“Shit, me no talk pretty.” Hal scrubbed his face with one hand. “I meant do you want for us to be? For there to be an us? For us to be when there want?”

Barry laughed out loud, and hit Hal’s shoulder with the back of his hand. “Stop being stupid.”

“I can’t, it’s my default setting.”

“Well I thought you wanted to be better?”

“Hm seems like you’re evading the question.” That stopped Barry’s laughter, and he cleared his throat.

“I thought you’re default is being stupid.”

“Yeah, well sometimes I can be quite astute.” Hal said smugly, and Barry rolled his eyes. He turned his head so he was also looking at Barry. “Well?”

Barry looked back at him, brows furrowed and chewed his lip. Hal smiled wistfully. 

“Guess it’s not the right time, huh?” Hal said, with some sadness in his voice.

“Yeah.” Barry conceded, equally sad. 

Hal sighed, lifted his head and placed his hands behind it, looking back up at the stars. “I get it though. You’re moving away tomorrow. To a new life in a big city, no less. Honestly I’d rather you be discovering new stuff and enjoying yourself without having to worry about some long distance relationship. I’m told it almost never works out that way anyway.” He said honestly, with no bitterness. He truly did want the best for Barry. His attention went back to Barry soon as he heard cracking knuckles, a habit the other boy did when agitated. Hal raised a questioning eyebrow, and Barry shook his head. 

“I wish we were honest with each other much earlier.”

“Back at Sal’s, when I kidnapped you, you mean?”

“Yeah.” 

“Yeah.”

They broke eye contact again to look up at the stars, each with their head full of unsaid words, their breathing the only sound between them. “Hey, I should probably bring you home. Don’t want to keep you from your parents for your last night here. Also Jay said Joan baked a pie.”

That got a little laugh from Barry. “Why do I get the feeling like the pie is more important.”

“It might be, just a little bit. Come on.”

They got off the hood and went back in the car. As Hal started it, he leaned over to Barry, who was distracted by putting the random trash in the car inside the takeout bag. “Hey.”

“Wha-?”

And Hal closed the distance between them and planted a soft kiss on Barry’s cheek. Barry was quick to turn his head, eyes wide, and Hal kissed him again, this time at the corner of his mouth. Barry seemed like he forgot how to breath, his face scarlet, but when Hal smiled and moved back Barry was the one to close the distance again and this time their lips found each other. It was a gentle kiss, Hal’s eyes half closed while Barry’s was screwed shut. Hal smiled into the kiss and leaned into it. But before anything got too heated Hal was first to pull back. Barry took a second before opening his eyes, to see a smiling Hal, looking satisfied with himself. 

“How was it?”

“Almost perfect.”

Hal scoffed. “Just almost?”

The corner of Barry’s mouth lifted as he said, “well, the burritos.” And Hal laughed. “Well, I guess that’s something to remember it by.”

“What was that for, by the way?” Barry asked, a little shy as he looked away to put on his seatbelt. Hal reversed and distractedly answered, “well we were at Makeout Point, thought we might as well.”

Barry pointedly looked at Hal, who stole a glance at him and laughed. Barry pulled out his phone and fished for the auxiliary jack to plug it in. He pulled up the podcast app and started scrolling through recent episodes before settling on one about the forensics of a cold case murder, and as the familiar opening monologue started he asked again, “really, why did you kiss me?”

Hal settled back into his seat as he looked out to the stretch of road before him. “Well, it’s a promise.”

He felt Barry looking at him, one of those inscrutable looks probably, but he kept his eyes on the road. “Look, I know we said that it’s not the right time for there to be an us but... I dunno. Maybe someday. When I said I want to be better, I meant it.”

“You actually have something planned, don’t you?”

“It’s a first, I know. Shocking.”

Barry grinned. “I’m actually just happy you want better things for yourself.”

“Something about you Bar. Makes me want to be a better man.”

“I know you got that line from a movie,” Barry replied, laughingly, “but its still touching, so thank you.”

The rest of the ride home Barry half listened, half talked over the podcast episode, and Hal just nodded along. The light was on at the Garrick’s house as they pulled up onto the driveway, as it wasn’t that late, and Jay invited Hal in for that promised piece of pie, which Hal gratefully accepted. Joan’s baking was not something he would turn down. Hal had been thinking it, but it was Joan who broached the subject.

“Why don’t you stay over for the night, Hal? It’s Barry’s last night and you boys haven’t been ‘hanging out’ for a while. I’m sure there’s a lot you want to talk about before he leaves.”

Hal looked to Jay first, who nodded, before he answered Joan in the affirmative. He texted his mother about it, who was probably shocked he texted at all, but did it just so the Garricks wouldn’t worry about his parents finding it a problem. Barry gave him a spare toothbrush and handed him some clothes. 

“You know you’re never getting these back, right?”

“You want a hoodie or something?” Barry sarcastically replied as he made his way to the bathroom, Hal in tow. “I actually would want that yes.”

“Moocher.”

“These are all I got to remember you by.”

“You act as if the internet doesn’t exist.”

“I mean physically. When’s the next time you’d be in town anyway?”

Barry paused from brushing his teeth and looked at Hal through the mirror. It just so happened that Hal was changing shirts, and Barry colored. “As soon as I can.” he whispered to himself, and then continued to brush his teeth. 

Later, in Barry’s room, with Hal on an air bed on the floor next to Barry’s bed, they talked about the future. Hal didn’t want to but eventually told part of his plans- how he just got employed at the local car mechanic shop (“I just showed them how I’ve been able to drive a piece of shit for years now”) and looking to part-time at Sal’s to save up some money to get college credits at the nearby community college. He thought about getting a loan but wasn’t sure his parents would co-sign for him. 

“What’s after that?”

“You’ll see.”

“Why the mystery?” Barry asked, smiling as if he already knew what the mystery was. Hal just smiled back. “Hey, scootch over so we can both fit in your bed.”

Barry was too shocked to protest and Hal had already clambered up on to the bed. They laid on their sides, looking at each other. 

“Bit snug.” Hal commented, still smiling, “it’s okay though.”

“I thought you agreed there’s no us yet?” Barry whisper-shouted, face steadily getting more red. There was little distance between them, and if Hal only moved a few inches closer, well. Barry’s face would probably burst from all the blood in his cheeks. 

“Relax,” Hal whispered back. “This is entirely innocent. Just two dudes cuddling. Chill out will you?” He laughingly chided, as he maneuvered himself and Barry into a more comfortable position, turning Barry around so he was spooning the other boy. He threw an arm around Barry’s middle, and soon Barry’s arm rested on his. “Just let me hold you until you fall asleep.”

“I don’t know if I can fall asleep like this!” Barry answered, his whisper tinged with panic. 

But fall asleep he did, and afterwards, with a kiss on Barry’s shoulder, Hal slipped back down to the air mattress. He spent the night contemplating, staring up at the ceiling and occasionally at Barry’s sleeping form, thinking about what lies ahead. It was going to be tough, but it was going to be worth it. Morning came and he got up soon as he heard movement downstairs, and he was having coffee with Jay and talking to Joan as she made breakfast when Barry stumbled down the stairs to join them. They had a hearty breakfast, the four of them together, and amid protests Hal announced his departure. He had his first shift that day and he had to make a good impression. Barry walked him out and they stood by his car, hands in their pockets, somehow awkward after all that transpired. 

“Well, I guess this is goodbye.” Barry said, visibly emotional. “I’ll be leaving after lunch, so I don’t think you can swing by...”

“It’s only goodbye for now Bar.” Hal said, smiling with sadness in his eyes. “We’ll see each other again real soon.”

“Yeah.”

Hal opened his arms wide and Barry gratefully closed in and they hugged each other tight. Hal turned his head so his lips were close to Barry’s ear and he whispered, “I love you. Take care of yourself. Call me when you can.”

Barry hugged him tighter and buried his face into the crook of Hal’s neck. “I love you too.”

Hal wished the moment could last forever, this moment when he felt like he was soaring. But all things must come to ground, and he had to eventually let go. He was first to break away, eyes shining with unshed tears. Barry fared no better, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. As Hal drove away, he looked to his rearview mirror and sure enough, there was Barry standing on the driveway, watching him leave. Hal clung to his own words, lest his emotions spill. It was only goodbye for now.


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short epilogue.

Barry was in the second week of his fourth year in college, talking animatedly with his friends as they walked out of the library, when he felt someone grab him by the shoulder from behind.

“Hey, you’re Barry, right?” He heard the familiar voice say as he was turned around by the shoulder.

“Hal!” Barry exclaimed in delight, and he immediately closed the distance between them and hugged a laughing Hal, who just as excitedly hugged him back. “What? I have so many questions! We were just talking a few weeks ago and you never mentioned you’d be visiting!”

“Well actually,” Hal started, still holding on to Barry, “I’m enrolled here. Got my associates degree and figured might as well get a bachelors. And I thought to myself, oh, what’s a good college I can enroll in? Just kidding, was always aiming to be here.”

“What? That’s amazing!”

They laughed and hugged again. Behind them they heard a discreet cough and Barry turned to see his friends smiling and looking pointedly at Hal. One of them bravely said, “and who might this be?”

Barry turned back to Hal and said, “boyfriend?” Hal beamed at him and answered, “boyfriend.”

Turning his head back to his friends, with Hal’s arms still around his waist, Barry cheerfully said out loud, “he’s my boyfriend” at the same time Hal said “I’m his boyfriend”. 

“Okay then, we’ll... we’ll head on out. Nice to meet you boyfriend!” And the gaggle of friends went down the rest of the steps but Barry hardly noticed, still excitedly asking questions at Hal, who just shook his head.

“Hey, shut up for a moment because I’m about to kiss you.”

And they kissed, and immediately everything else mattered less but the feel of Hal’s lips against him. He pulled back dreamily, and he whispered, “Where have you been all my life?”

Hal looked at Barry deep in his eyes and replied, “looking for you.”

***  
End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished. What started out as a drabble became a fully fledged fic (by my standards). I hope it was a good read for you. And thank you so much for the kudos as well as the comments, specially those who comment for each chapter. Not gonna lie, it really motivated me to write haha thank you again guys.


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